Baseball has been part of Steven Vogt’s life since before the Guardians’ new manager took his first step, and that’s no exaggeration.
Vogt, 39, was introduced as the replacement for Terry Francona during a news conference Nov. 10 at Progressive Field. His 10-year playing career as a catcher ended in 2022. He was the bullpen coach for the Seattle Mariners in 2023.
The first step in believing Vogt is ready for the job ahead of him is having faith Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff know how to do their jobs. Their list of candidates, formed in August, started with 45 names.
Steven Vogt is 39. He said he began preparing to be Major League manager when he was 24 years old in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/ycVYna32LD
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 10, 2023
“Steven is wise beyond his years,” Antonetti said. “He has a unique blend of self-confidence and humility. He has a great baseball mind. There were so many things that stood out as we thought about the leader we were trying to bring to the organization. He checks all the boxes for us.”
Vogt was born in Visalia, Calif. on Nov. 1, 1984. Most babies have a rattle or a stuffed animal in their crib. Maybe a colorful mobile overhead. Vogt’s father thought his young son would be better off with a baseball bat to touch or clutch as he fell asleep.
No game today. Progressive Field under construction pic.twitter.com/ncldlzsVZ2
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 10, 2023
“From the time I was born, my dad had a bat in my crib,” Vogt said to a small group of reporters after the news conference ended. “It probably started with my grandfather in Oklahoma. He grew up with five brothers. They would listen to New York (baseball) Giants games on the radio.
“My family moved to California in 1956. The Giants came a couple years later, so San Francisco Giants is where my family’s love for the game grew. My dad said from the time I could walk, I had a bat or something in my hand and I would be swinging it.”
Vogt played for six teams and finished with a career batting average of .239, 82 home runs and 313 RBI. He was a two-time All-Star and a member of the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves. He has also been injured, waived and relegated to the bench. He played in 70 of 162 games with the A’s in 2022 and batted a meager .161.
In other words, whatever a Guardians player might be going through, good or bad, Vogt has probably experienced it.
“The romanticism of baseball — I love what it takes to play this game every day,” Vogt said, “I had a coach tell me one time, ‘You want to play like there’s an eight-year-old kid sitting in the stands for his or her very first baseball game. You want to show them how to play. And if you go out and have a big night, you might be their favorite player.’
“When that coach told me that, it stuck with me. If you play with that kind of drive and passion every single night, you’re going to end up being a great player. That’s what I’m going to try to instill in our players — to play with that kind of passion. And they already do. These guys play so hard. I loved watching them play from across the way. I just want to pick up where they left off and see how much we can grow.”
Vogt said being a catcher prepared him to be a manager.
“I know how to deal with position players because I was one, and I know how to deal with pitchers because I worked with them throughout my whole career,” Vogt said. “They are two very different breeds. To put it nicely.
“I also think the majority of my career was game planning and making in-game decisions. There are 150 to 175 in-game decisions that as a catcher you make every night. Any one of them could be the impact that leads to a win or loss. So having that ability and having gone through that process is really going to help.”
The Guardians finished 76-86 and in third place in the American League Central Division in 2023.
Vogt said he knows some players on the Guardians roster from his time as a player. He has reached out to seven or eight players since he was hired, including meeting starting pitcher Shane Bieber. He plans to get in touch with others over the next few weeks.
